


Small Gesture of Kindness

by dizzy



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-21
Updated: 2010-09-21
Packaged: 2017-10-12 02:04:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/119584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She needed to leave, and he saw that she needed to leave, and she's not prepared to express the amount of gratitude that she feels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Small Gesture of Kindness

"Come on," Cameron says to her, walking past Vala without stopping. "We're getting out of here."

*

She sits in the passenger seat of his car and doesn't ask where they're going. She doesn't really care. She needed to leave, and he saw that she needed to leave, and she's not prepared to express the amount of gratitude that she feels.

*

There's alcohol. Not the typical fare she's grown accustomed to when out with the team. No beer for him, no fruity cocktail for her. A bottle of something brown and two glasses, and Cameron's kitchen table.

"Vala," he says, looking at her very seriously. "We're gonna get drunk."

*

The bottle is empty and Cameron's splayed out on the floor. He's got a grin on his face and his eyes keep trying to focus on her and failing.

She's feeling it too. Her liquor tolerance, widely reputed among the SGC, is more compliments of her ability to dump a drink when no one's looking. She hasn't skipped any rounds tonight and when she stands the ground is definitely tilting beneath her feet.

She realizes she's going to tip over and controls it, slides down until she's straddling his stomach. She puts her hands on his chest and feels how solid he is. He's not tilting, not at all. She leans forward, her hair falling around them, and he reaches up with one hand.

"You're too pretty," he mumbles.

"I think I'm just pretty enough," she says.

"Jackson isn't gonna date you." Cam sounds petulant, and she wonders where this has been all along, where he's been keeping this tucked away. She hopes she remembers it in the morning, because there's possibility there that she hadn't really thought about exploring yet. "You deserve something better."

"I don't think many would agree with you about what I deserve."

"You didn't deserve any of that. Any of the... Adria... Ori... stuff."

She looks at him and he means it and she's so drunk and crying, when did she start crying? Those are tears on her face, dripping down. He frowns and his fingers curl around the back of her neck and pull her down toward him. Her balance slips and her elbow catches him in the soft spot just between his ribs and he grunts in pain. She shifts, apologizes, rubs her hand up and down soothingly over the place.

He covers her hand with his and squeezes it. She lowers her head to his shoulder and he wraps his arms around her and it's been so long since she felt this. Maybe, almost, with Tomin, but she'd known what he was and the weight of her deception kept her from really trusting in anything, and that was for the best. She's not hiding anything from Cameron though; not her choice though she'll mask it as concession to the SGC if that gets her what she wants. (A place to stay. A sense of security. The chance to get her daughter back, in one way or another, to see an end to this whole thing that she feels so much responsibility for.)

*

She wakes up in the middle of the night to something warm and soft under her cheek, the scent of someone masculine cloaking her like a blanket. She snuffles and rubs her cheek against the material of his shirt, gets a groan in response. His hand pets through her hair like he doesn't realize what he's doing.

"Vala?"

"Mm."

"Still drunk," he mumbles. "Get up. Gotta piss."

She rolls off of him, sitting and pulling her knees to her chest, squinting in the dark of the room. It's quiet and strange and she feels like she shouldn't be here.

He disappears. She sees a light flicker then go out, hears a flush. Springs creak, a pause, and he walks back out. "Vala? Where- why are you on the floor still?"

She looks up at him, at a loss.

He reaches a hand down to her and she lets him pull her up, walks into his space and puts her head back on his chest, because she liked how that felt earlier. He holds her, sighs against her cheek. "Come on. Bed."

He stops her in the doorway and undresses her, fingers heavy and warm where they touch her skin. He gets her a shirt, slips it over her head, not bothering to pretend not to look. In bed, she finds herself alone again until he comes back, bottles of water and a handful of tablets. He hands her two and she swallows, gulps the water and then curls into him again. He's more naked this time, and she wraps herself around him, breathes in deeply and tries not to think of morning at all.


End file.
